UGA unveils plans for land use

The ''last green island'' in Clarke County, 23 acres fronting the Middle Oconee River in the Beechwood neighborhood, will become a conservation subdivision with strict development guidelines.

The late University of Georgia ecologist Eugene Odum spent more than one year writing detailed instructions for the future use of his Beechwood area land. Those instructions were just released by the university and show that Odum's lifelong work with nature is reflected in his plans for development: unpaved pedestrian trails may be constructed only ''by hand.'' No fences may be erected, and more than half the land must always remain as a conservation easement, or greenspace.

Odum willed the Beechwood land to the UGA Foundation, the private entity that handles donations to the university. Although Odum's specifications for development of his land are not included in his will and therefore not legally binding, UGA will follow his wishes to the fullest extent, said Keith Oelke, executive director of gifts and estate planning for the UGA Foundation.

Just last week, UGA officials met with Beechwood neighborhood residents, unveiling Odum's plans and assuaging the residents' fears that the land would be developed into high-rise student apartments or something similar, according to Oelke (pronounced El-kie). University officials say they had fielded phone calls from concerned residents, and Oelke said the meeting prompted ''very nice dialogue'' with the neighborhood group.

Once the title to the land is transferred to the UGA Foundation, the university will begin an open bidding process, said Oelke. The land will be sold as a conservation subdivision, legally binding the developer to the specific regulations set forth by Odum.

The Oconee River Land Trust will monitor the land ''in perpetuity,'' making sure all future development and activity on the land is in line with Odum's plans.

''We accept the responsibility to make sure the terms of the conservation easement go on forever,'' said Sigrid Sanders, executive director of the Oconee River Land Trust. The land trust has the authority to enforce land-use restrictions, and can file a lawsuit if the developer or future residents do not comply.

Last month the Athens-Clarke County Commission approved a moratorium, effective until March 4, on conservation subdivisions in areas zoned agricultural-residential. Because the Beechwood conservation subdivision is zoned single-family residential, it would be exempt from the moratorium, according to Jane Erwin, a county planner.

''It will simply be a case of the (developer) submitting the preliminary plat for review,'' said Erwin, whose first glance at Odum's plans prompted her to say they are ''definitely different from anything else we've seen.''

In fact, unlike other conservation subdivisions, which usually have houses clustered in one area with greenspace concentrated in another, Odum's plan for his land has greenspace scattered throughout the acreage. The largest plot, 2.57 acres, is the one on which his house currently stands. Another plot sits on 1.64 acres, and the other 11 plots have somewhere between 0.57-acre and 0.61-acre.

The foundation had not revealed Odum's plans until now, said Oelke, because it had to review them first.

Gary Barrett, the Odum Professor in UGA's Institute of Ecology, said Odum tweaked the plans for about a year and a half, quite excited about the future of the neighborhood. Barrett, and Odum, known as the father of modern ecology, worked together on the fifth edition of his famous ''Fundamentals of Ecology'' textbook, and Odum even considered including the Beechwood plans in the book.

''I could tell he was very pleased with (the plans), and he thought maybe we should include them in the 'Fundamentals of Ecology' book we were working on,'' said Barrett. ''... I think it'll be beautiful when they finish getting it developed.''

Indeed, the university is also looking forward to the development of the land, as the proceeds from the sale of the land, according to the will, go to the Eugene and William Odum Ecology Fund after $1 million is set aside for a professorial chair at UGA in Odum's name.

Oelke, who called the land ''the last green island in Clarke County,'' said he expects the land to prove quite valuable.

''Not more than two days go by without someone involved in this getting some type of inquiry about this property,'' he said.